Marie Webb

Halifax-based fashion and textile designer Marie Webb of Lemonade Stand Designs was the inaugural Sow to Sew Artist-in-Residence in NSCAD’s Fashion studios from May to August 2024. Webb’s prolific work centres fearless and boldly colourful designs that illustrate her life experiences as a young woman with Down syndrome. During the residency, Webb designed and created an ambitious new collection to debut at New York Fashion Week in September 2024.

NSCAD faculty member Leesa Hamilton coordinated student summer internships through the Art Factory to assist Webb in sewing 12 of her designs. The production of Webb’s garments took place in-studio with interns Masoomeh Salimi Beni (lead assistant designer), April Beattie and Ruben Francis, with support from Weiming Du.

Webb’s collection, titled “Brag Wear,” premiered at New York Fashion Week on the Hard Rock Hotel runway on September 7, and on the Sony Hall runway and at a reception at the Kerry Schuss Gallery on September 8, 2024. The team of models from Halifax-based Soli Productions, who collaborated on numerous fittings and rehearsals, played an invaluable role making the presentations a success.

The collection was brought back to NSCAD and displayed in a two-week exhibition titled “Brag Wear” at the Anna Leonowens Gallery from October 15 to 26, 2024. With the success of New York Fashion Week, Webb was invited to show the collection at ZAZ10TS, a gallery in New York City’s Times Square; the “Brag Wear” exhibition travelled to the New York City gallery and was exhibited there from March 6 to June 2, 2025. Webb’s residency project was also the feature of a one-hour CBC News documentary, “Marie: The Fashion Queen.”